Rise of the Ultimate NEXT
by Lady Valkrye
Summary: An obsessed man learns of Wild Tiger's diminishing powers and vows to do something about it. The infamous Ouroboros steps in and makes his dreams a reality. But what are a group of HEROs to do when the one they admire has no memories of them and is back to the age before being a HERO was his dream? What will happen between our dear Bunny and a younger Kotetsu?
1. Kotetsu gets kidnapped

Kotetsu gets kidnapped

Kotetsu stomped off towards the bar. Moments like the one that had just passed made him want to just quite being a HERO and punch that self-righteous Barnaby in the face. Argh! For such a young guy, he wasn't being cute at all today!

The sound of the door alarm of the bar wasn't even heard as the noise level rose.

The smoke and smell of alcohol inside curled like a huge purring cat in his chest, burning his eyes and nose. Kotetsu made his way through several depressed drunkards moaning about debts, a gathering of testosterone filled college and high school boys pouring shots of voldka and chugging them, and several sports fans all shouting and spilling more beer than drinking it; in order to sit right next to the figure he knew so well.

Sitting at the bar stool, he motioned for the waiter to come and bought himself a beer. The cold, frosted green bottle of cheap imported bitter liquid was quickly set down. Taking a swing, he asked, "So what are you doing here Bison?"

The large man merely shrugged. Muscles came alive with that small motion. "Same as you I guess. I wanted a drink."

Kotetsu merely raised an eyebrow. "This is a little far for just a drink?"

Rock Bison only sighed. "I knew you'd be here and I didn't want to drink alone."

Kotetsu only nodded.

Moments of silence passed between the two. The silence soon turned uncomfortable and then it turned awkward.

The roar of a group of elderly men watching a sport game erupted right next to the stools the two HEROs sat at.

"Kotetsu… why do you still wear that ring?" Bison had sighed the whole question out in one breath. It wasn't the first time he'd asked the question. Seeing the man he considered a friend lonely and figuring the ring and purple jade beaded bracelet made him worry for him. Kotetsu, for all of his years, had only been in a relationship once, and when his wife had died, he hadn't even looked at another. Five plus years had passed since her passing and the ring was still on, he was still clinging to the past.

Kotetsu only sighed in answer. "In all honesty, I don't know why I do anymore." He played with the ring, twisting the cold piece of metal around his finger, lifting it up to the knuckle and then back down. He did the same thing three times more before letting it rest.

The answer that Bison startled; not once had Kotetsu answered like that. His voice had taken a thoughtful sound, as if though he was contemplating the mysteries of the universe right there.

"I guess it's because of the promise I made Tomoe."

"The promise to always be a HERO," Bison nodded, remembering when Wild Tiger come back as HERO. His friend's loyalty to his promises was admirable.

"Yeah, but I'm afraid that I can't go on any longer. Even the One Minute is shortening up." The reminder of his dying powers was more than just a sore subject for him. He hated the thought of losing them. Out of every NEXT he'd met before, he'd been the youngest to receive his, even younger than the Mayor's own son. He'd been born with them, had learned to control them as best as he could once he had finally figured out what his powers actually were. To realize that he'd lose them all sometimes made him wish he could just activate them repeatedly until he had nothing left, because the wait was destroying him.

"Is that why Barnaby is so upset with you?" The question concerning his friend's partner had been made out of pure curiosity. Bison had seen the young blonde angrily stomp out of the Apollon Media Building, cursing Wild Tiger's name under his breath.

"Hmph! That Barnaby forgets that I was too a King of HERO's before he even thought of becoming one. And that I've been able to kick anyone's ass without my powers since before he was born!"

The words were said in such a rage, that Kotetsu, blind in his emotions, slammed his drink down on the table's top. The contents created waves that crashed upon the bottle violently, although Kotetsu had been generously taking in the contents so not one drop spilled.

Bison only looked at his friend and laughed. Every word had been true. It was a shame Barnaby hadn't seen Kotetsu in his prime; he might then be able to fully appreciate his partner's worth instead of constantly being worried about him leaving. Light dawned on him.

"What were you arguing about this time?"

Kotetsu scowled. "I accidently got hit by the criminal's bullet. When he shot the gun at Barnaby, I merely pushed him down and took the bullet. Once Baranby realized what had happened, he sort of freaked and…. I swear he turned into a devil or something because one second he was normal and the next he was chasing the guy down and the whole thing was over before I knew it."

Shaking his head, Bison could only find himself to feel pity for his oblivious friend. "Has it ever occurred to you that you could get killed by a bullet?"

Kotetsu looked at Bison as if though he said something stupid. "Even without my powers activated, I can still take on a bullet. I doubt it could do much besides break a few bones and give me a bruise."

Bison palmed his face with his right hand. Only Kotetsu would seriously take a bullet and think nothing of it. "It's a wonder you haven't died yet!"

Kotetsu snorted at his friend. "I'm stronger than I look. I can still kick your ass." He said it as if though he was stating a fact, like the sun was hot and the sky was blue.

Wincing at the memory of the last mock fight, Bison could still feel the ghost of the pain of his ass repeatedly hitting the mat in the training room. Even after using his own NEXT powers, Bison had still gotten his ass handed to him for several hours straight. Kotetsu's had not lost any of his own natural physical strength, the growing years only making him stronger.

"Yes, but Barnaby has never seen you fight against me. He might just be worried about you?" It was something Bison had noted as time went on between the two partners. Barnaby obviously cared for Kotetsu, to what extent was anyone's guess, though he was sure Nathan knew more on the subject. The flamboyant man was really keen when it came to the inner dealings of the HEROs around him, he would have to make a call later on tonight and exchange notes.

Huffing, Kotetsu, finished with his drink, decided it was time to go home. Paying for the alcohol, he patted Bison's shoulders and walked out the door. Stumbling into the pavement, Kotetsu angrily muttered at his own clumsy footing.

He righted himself.

A breath or two later, and he was walking down the streets to his lovely little home.

The moon was out tonight. It was waning, soon, as in a day's time; it'd be a new moon.

He felt himself become depressed. The waning silvery crescent above him reminded him of his own waning powers. Would his life be as empty as the night sky on a new moon without his powers? Would he still have the people closest to him once he lost his powers? What would he tell Keade, who he had long neglected for the same powers that were leaving him? Would he have broken his promise to Tomoe if he lost them?

So many thoughts were running through his head that the silent whispers of feet following him did not reach his ears.

A sudden pain and then a feeling of paralyzes took hold over him so quickly that Kotetsu found himself on the floor before he even realized what had happened. His head had collapsed near the steps of his home, the front door so mockingly near and yet so far.

Tall black figures took his fallen body into the back of van in a move so easily done that Kotetsu automatically knew that these men were not normal humans.

Something was pressed against his face, and while he was busy trying to get his body to struggle, he never felt the tug of unconsciousness pull him in until he was already lost in it.

One of the figures opened a cell phone and dialed. A ring, two, and then a third passed on. A person on the other line answered.

"DO you have him?"

"Yes master."

"Is he harmed?"

"No. We only shot a tranquilizer at him."

"Were you seen?"

"No. No one on the roof tops saw any movement."

"Good. Bring him here immediately."

"Yes sir."

The line went dead.


	2. Watch out! A plan against Tiger arises

Watch out! A plan against Tiger arises

"… And that's it for Hero TV…"

A hand, grasping the TV remote control, pressed the mute button. Instantly, the anchor man's voice, sounding so much like the sound of a girl's play doll, was silenced. The only thing that now played was the 10 o'clock evening news. A bit of ridiculous since anything noteworthy had already been explained in the previous one at 8 o'clock.

A slender finger pressed another button and then the TV's screen turned black. The remote was put aside. The reflecting surface of the TV screen's revealing nothing in the now pitch-black room.

A sigh was heard in the silence.

The hand that was once grasping onto the remote, now found its place pressed against its owner's face. The head bowed. Shoulders slumped forward as if it carried the load of the world.

"This is pathetic! What has happened to you? One minute? Hah!" The sound of the words being uttered echoed in the small room. The voice belonged to a man. Used to being pleased, it was filled with a bitter disappointment so unfamiliar to him that it burned in his throat until the words were let out with a hoarse roar.

Disgusted, the man leaned against a black leather couch. His arms were thrown back against the back of it, his head raised so that eyes looked straight up towards the ceiling. Only blackness stared right back at him.

He breathed, shoulders raising and falling swiftly with each breath.

The silence was broken. "What are we to do?"

The voice was feminine, soft in its delicate sound. It came from the darkness of the room. Nothing could be seen though as to hint of an origin. The whole room was black.

The man cracked a smile. He held out his hand. A clear crystal glass, filled with ice and whisky, the best kind, a color so golden in hue that it resembled liquid gold, was placed there. The strong bitter smell of the alcohol burned the man's nose as he raised the glass to eye level. The familiar smell curled straight into his lungs and down into his stomache, making him yearn for the power it presented to him.

"Do not worry my lovely. We will get him back. Our Wild Tiger will be free once more. It's time we unleashed him, and show the world why he is the ultimate NEXT."

The woman, now standing next to him, smiled and bowed. "Shall I make the preparations?"

The man nodded. "Yes, and go grab him. Our plans on finally capturing our Tiger are almost finally coming to an end. Soon we will have our precious one back."

The woman left. She was silent in her departure just as she had been silent in her arrival, making no noise. Not even her clothes made a ruffle.

Alone now, the man leaned forward. Hands on his lap, drink still in his hand, the man stared into the glass. An ice cube, melting in a sea of gold, clinked against the walls of the cup. The sound reached the man's ears and in a fit of anger, he chugged the alcohol in one violent move.

Not one cough escaped passed his lips. Not one grimace painted his face with pain. Nothing happened.

And yet, the man reached a sort of peace he could not explain.

They were close. One move, maybe two more, and they would have their prize.

A grin formed. It twisted the man's face into something horrific.

Yes. It was only a manner of time now.

His cell phone rang.


	3. Memories of the Past

Memories of the past

The sound of beeping was what he woke up to.

A horrid sound of machinery that echoed and rang in his ears until nothing was left, nothing but an annoying pain pulsating at his temples that threatened to drive him mad, indications of a headache forming.

He was lying on a bed. A clear plastic tube, with some sort of clear liquid running through it, was attached to his arm. He could see the shape of the metal needle as it made quite a nauseating sight on the skin of his arm. He was numb to the pain of it, a first since most of the faculty in the healing facilities he frequented didn't bother with placing a needle into his body as gently as they did to the others.

The memories of a similar incident were fading from his mind though, and he found himself too tired to begin wondering the specifics of when he was at a hospital last. He suddenly could not remember.

The thin, white blanket covering his naked self, as he could feel the coldness of the room on his body, was just another thing for his eyes to fix themselves on. No thoughts came to him. The feeling of being cold was only there for a second before even that too vanished. An unnatural warmth uncurled itself from somewhere inside of him and spread throughout his body, like some jungle cat waking up from a nap under the summer sun.

Feeling nothing, thinking nothing, it left him with too much to do and at the same time, with nothing to do. The possibilities were paralleled with the impossibilities. The choices of what to do all crammed into his brain before those thoughts melted away and he began wondering on what he had been thinking about in the first place.

He tried remembering on what he had been doing before, but nothing came to him. Nothing at all. He waited for the panic of an empty memory to sink in, but again, he felt nothing.

He tried remembering things. Anything would be useful.

Nothing.

Only his name and his schooling came back to him. It was all useless information. He doubted being in a classroom full of nameless, formless faces had brought him to this point.

The screeching sound of metal rings sliding across a metal bar brought his attentions to the curtains. The curtains, a soft mixture of pastel colors, opened to his left. The curtains had surrounded him on three sides; the wall was to his back.

A man and woman were standing there. Both wore lab coats, similar to those of research scientists, and he wondered how he could make the distinction between the coat of a scientist and the coat of a doctor and yet not remember anything of what happened to him. The feeling of confusion left him as swiftly as it arrived. He was left, thoughtless once more, as he looked upon them both.

The man smiled at him. It wasn't a friendly smile. The woman made no movement.

"Do you remember who you are?"

The man was the one who had spoken. The voice was filled with a formality that he could not explain a reason for, but it was cold. No emotional undertone could be heard.

"My name is Kotetsu T. Kaburagi. My name is all that I can remember."

Strange how the man just smiled when he responded. How could having no memory be a good thing? The thought was gone before he could think about it again.

"I see. Well the bump on your head would explain the memory loss."

There was something about the man's voice that did not sit well with him. It was too pleased with itself. And he decided to be wary of the man.

"What happened to me?" He inwardly cursed for allowing his curiosity to shine through. But damn! He wanted to know what had happened, the more awake he was and the less he remembered, the more the sick feelings of panic began to threaten to consume him.

"You were found injured, covered in blood too. You were brought to the main hospital and were barely alive before they were able to begin to do anything. My team had so happened to be around when they discovered you and decided that the doctors there would be unable to treat you as you deserved, so they brought you here."

The man had been the one to speak. The woman was looking at her clipboard.

"And where is here?" One question out of the hundreds he had running through his head.

The smirk on the man's face put him on edge. A new sick feeling of fear was added on to the feeling of panic he was already experiencing. It was beginning to be too much for him.

Unknowingly, he began to breathe too harshly. His breathes were coming out in pants, mouth gapping open for more air. His lungs felt starved for it. His heart thundered in his ears. The beating organ beating into a tempo too fast to be normal, the pulsing vibrated through all of his body, making him sweat cold and his hands gripped at nothing. He was sure that if he looked down, he'd be able to see the organ pushing against his chest for freedom. He felt the instinctual need to fight his way from the bed, the needle on his arm being his only restraint.

Suddenly, everything vanished. The fear, the panic, everything faded. And the only thing he could remember was the questions he held about his whereabouts and his health. His breath was back to normal.

"Here is my research facility. It doubles as a hospital for critical cases." The man answered, not once revealing the episode he had seen. The smirk on his face was beginning to blossom into a smile.

"I see. Am I one of those critical cases?" There was curiosity. What was he? He could only remember his name.

The man's smile only widened. The possibilities here before him were endless. "Yes, and quite a special case as well. You see, my staff of doctors only specializes in cases similar to yours."

His eyes widened, he was curious by what the man was saying. "What makes my case so special?"

"You are what are labeled as a NEXT. A human genetic miracle that allowed you to be better than the rest of the normal humans; in your specific case though, your NEXT powers are even more superior to other NEXTs."

"Superior?" His mind was stuck on that word. The familiarity he received at hearing the man's words were a comfort he embraced. Finally something was making sense.

The man's smile reached his eyes now, as if though his curiosity at being superior to others was exactly what the man wanted to hear.

"Yes. You are superior. In order to understand your superiority I am going to have to make you stay for quite a bit longer. By the way, my name is Dr. Mastermura but most around here call me either Doctor or Master. You are free to call me that as well if you choose."

"I'll call you Doctor if you don't mind." The idea of calling the man Master, as if though he was some pet to the man had not settled well in his stomache. It made him feel the beginnings of anger in his blood, boiling inside him so that his skin generated a warmth too hot for his comfort.

The man's smile turned false, the edges sloped downwards, a move so miniscule it was nearly unnoticeable. Were his plans going south again? No matter, he thought, everything will turn out as it's meant to be now. Everything is in motion now.

The one who had been introduced as Dr. Mastermura nodded. "Very well, if you wish it. Now my assistant will be in charge of you so if you have any questions ask her."

Kotetsu nodded at the man's back, as the man had already been walking away before he had finished his words.

"My name is Alicia. I will begin by testing your vitals. After which, I will show you some videos of who you once were. If you'd like, we can return you to your home after you've healed." The words were soft, delicate like glass. It matched her perfectly. The woman looked as if though she'd break if handled too roughly. Everything was delicate, even her hair looked soft and fragile. It all made some part of him cringe with her fragility.

Kotetsu nodded, he was anxious to see these videos, to see who he was.

In one swift movement he had not expected, the woman had begun to glow an eerie blue, it was so bright that he was sure she could glow in the dark if the lights were turned off. Her hands glowed in the same color, and he tried to not flinch as they rested on his forehead.

Incomprehensible mutterings were coming out of her mouth so fast that he quickly gave up on trying to figure them out, leaving himself at the mercy of what she was saying. Her voice though was having a strange effect on him, making him drowsy and lethargic. A strange heaviness settled on him and he found himself drifting off to sleep before he had made a thought.

The woman, who had named herself Alicia, looked down on the sleeping patient Master had sworn was the one they were looking for. He did not resemble the man on the TV they had seen some nights ago but Master had assured her that he was him. The Wild Tiger now lay helpless in their hands.

She smiled. All was as it should be.

She retrieved her hands from his forehead; the man would stay asleep until Master ordered for his awakening. The next stage would be easier he was asleep.

Leaving the sleeping man in his own designated space, she left to go find Master. The curtains had only settled back into place, before Alicia found herself right next to him.

Alicia kneeled and bowed, her brow resting on the floor. "It is as you requested Master."

"Good my little pet. Run along now and wait until I call upon you again."

Following her master's orders, the woman got up from the floor and left.

Not paying the woman any attention, the man merely smiled. He'd been smiling since Kotetsu had awoken with no memories of who he was, and the day had only just begun. Soon, he'd have his plan in full motion. Everything was going exactly as planned.

He allowed himself to laugh as he walked. It was a good day when it all went according to his wishes. In his immense joy, he allowed himself to see the facility he owned.

The building was large, with several smaller buildings attached to the central base. Special passes, given to only a few people, were used so that transportation from building to building was achievable for those who specialized in more than one area of expertise. Except for those very few people, no one left the building they were housed in. Research was all anyone was allowed to do. The sun was a privilege only given to those he deemed fit to see it.

The building he was in now, was one of the smaller ones. It held his private rooms and the rooms of the many women used for his sole entertainment. It also now held the room of his new patient.

Wild Tiger.

It had taken him ages to find the man behind the mask but he had. All of those years of research and torture… all in order to find him. And it worked. All of his patience had finally paid off. Kotetsu T. Kaburagi was his now, just like it had been in the old days. In the days before he had met that despicable woman.

Kotetsu had been known back then as just simply Tiger. The man was simply inspiring. The way he held himself when he fought, the beauty of his body as his muscles bunched and stretched underneath the skin before, during, and after he landed a hit on his opponent. The way the blood of his enemy would coat his fists as he stood over their gasping for breath body. Tiger had been his obsession throughout his early life, and when he had become Wild Tiger, he had been his most adoring fan. Kotetsu was the man every man strived to be. With his own code of honor, Tiger was a fighter unlike any other; until she came along.

Tomoe. He shuddered when he thought about her, his hatred for her running so deep it paralyzed him with rage.

The girl was what one would call pretty, not something that deserved more than a passing glance. Her long dark brown hair and her brown eyes were like every other girl's. Even her slim body was nothing in comparison to some of the other, more attractive ones in their school. She didn't have any striking features or a very captivating personality. In fact, he still wondered at how Kotetsu could have even fallen for such a plain thing when the man himself was so utterly beautiful. But he had.

Tomoe had been fortunate enough to be gifted with intelligence, not enough to rival anyone else's but enough of it to come out at top. And top, back in those early days, meant class representative. She had even been blessed with being in the same class as Kotetsu, something he had been cursed to not have. He had watched as every day the girl fell more in love with Tiger, and he could not blame her.

He had been there that day.

NEXT's were rare in their small town, and Kotetsu was the only NEXt in their even smaller community college. Gifted with brain, brawn, and beauty, Kotetsu was as popular with the guys as he was with the girls. His sensitive and friendly nature drew people to him like bees to honey.

He remembered exactly how he had looked back then.

Black hair as soft as silk glittered just right in the sunlight with natural golden brown tones. It framed a pale face, gliding itself over silky soft skin. He remembered how Kotetsu would always brush it back behind his ears whenever a strand pressed against his face or bits of it gathered in front of his eyes. His hands had short fingernails, nicely trimmed and perfectly groomed so as to not cause him damage whenever he balled them into a fist and won a fight. His eyes, so light brown they were almost golden yellow in color, were always half closed in a relaxed state, his black arched eyebrows only rising when his attention was called or if he was in a fight. A perfectly sculpted nose, a testament of his prowess for he had never had it broken, bridged the distance between the predatory eyes and thin masculine lips, the fantasy of many of the girls of the school. Towering at nearly six feet, it had seemed as if the clothing he wore cascaded down his physical form. Broad shoulders, muscled arms and chest were hidden from public view by the white colored buttoned shirt he always wore. His usual silver studded black belt revealed slender masculine hips that flowed down to two long muscular legs. Black jeans covered the lower body, only being joined by black boots with thick soles that started at below the knees. A black jacket, with a hood, completed the look.

That one day had been a Friday; he remembered because he never forgot how the sound of the duffle bag Kotetsu only carried on Fridays had hit the ground. It had been so soft a sound and yet it had made the sport field they were all in fall into silence.

A man, who looked to be even bigger than Kotetsu himself, had stood there as if though he owned the land he stood on. The man had been known back then as Antonio Lopez, Kotetsu's number one rival and the only one who was not knocked out in one punch in their fist fights. Lopez had traded his usual cocky arrogant look for one of near panic that afternoon.

The words between the both men had been hushed, so very quietly spoken between them that not one person could hear their mutterings.

He hadn't been there for the next part. He only remembered being thankful that the school day had ended so that Kotetsu wouldn't have gotten in trouble. He only remembered calling out Tiger's name and handing the dropped duffle bag over before the man had ran out of the school grounds with Lopez at his heels. He remembered feeling inadequate as he followed his hero with his eyes, wishing to be running right alongside him.

However, he had been there, at the edge of the forest that same evening. It had begun raining sometime between four and five, the storm becoming worse and then lightening up around nine. But he remembered looking out his window at his house near the forest, looking out and remembering his idol running into the unknown. A noise, probably nothing but his own imagination, had made him look out and see a vision that still haunted him.

Kotetsu, with his long hair dripping water, and his head bowed, had been walking down the street with an equally soaked Lopez next to him. In his arms, he held what looked to be the figure of a girl, her body severely beaten and his jacket covering her upper body.

The streets had been flooded with water and it had still been raining, the lights of the street lamps flickering. It all gave them cover until Kotetsu had looked up and locked eyes with him. Startled, he only kept the gaze long enough to understand what he was seeing before he turned his eyes away first.

Saturday morning local newspaper had brought on an arrest of five young men who had been dumped at the police station sometime in the night. All five had confessed guilty of gang fighting, drug trafficking, and kidnapping.

Monday morning had been like stepping into a new world. Every student body had been graced with the sight of the two most famous rivals being all friendly with each other, their easy friendship shocking everyone. For two people who, on a daily basis had their fists pummeling each other, their personalities underneath it all was completely compatible.

The second change had been in the girl he had seen Kotetsu carry. Normally silent and with her own circle of friends, she clung now to Kotetsu like second skin. The famous snotty class representative, student council president, the school's resident know it all, and Kotetsu's personal hell in human form, for she was always complaining to him about his primitive behavior, was wrapping her herself around his arm. The same girl who had made sure Kotetsu had heard her every opinion about his animalistic tendency to fight every day with a loud factual tone of superiority, was now gentle and soft spoken with him. As time had progressed, it had become normal for her to be seen wearing the black jacket Kotetsu had normally worn, an act that made her the object of various envious stares of every red blooded female around the school. At the end of two years, a ring of promise had graced her ring finger on the left hand, and a familiar bracelet of purple jade beads adorned Kotetsu's left wrist. The couple was never seen apart.

And it sickened him. Kotetsu, for all of his greatness, had been lowered to a common man. It had driven him crazy, especially since he could do nothing. He was not a NEXT, at least he hadn't gained his powers until much later but by then it had been too late.

Obsessed with his teenage goal at capturing his idol, he had spent his life learning everything he could about him. A memory of that woman calling Kotetsu Wild Tiger had sprung on him some two years ago and he had begun making plans at capturing the illusive HERO. He had spent the past two years feeling as if though the gods were smiling on him. How fortunate was he that his idol as a child and his idol as a man were both in one?

Nothing had prepared him for how his HERO had fallen. A new rage had taken over. How could the great Kotetsu, named for the fiercest cat in the entire world, be so out of touch with his true self? What had that woman done to him?

His mind had begun spinning, trying to find a way in which he could revert his precious Tiger to how he had once been. And then the answer had come to him.

A NEXT, named Maverick had shown his true colors to the world; as a memory manipulator, he had erased the HERO's memory of Tiger's true self and pitted them all against Wild Tiger in a duel that was supposed to end Kotetsu's life. He had been struck with such a moment of enlightenment that he hadn't been able to watch the end of that program.

Sometime after that accident, he had received a note from a group named Ouroboros. They claimed that they wanted him to capture Wild Tiger for them. Several meeting between them, a common goal had been achieved.

He been given directions to another memory manipulator he had already known. An old woman, named Sarah, was the first NEXT he had hired in order to train his own power. The woman had owned him a debt, and when he had his men collect Wild Tiger's beaten form from another failed crime scene, he had Sarah erase Kotetsu's memories; every single one, down to just the basics.

The next step in his plans had been the aging problem. It would not do for his idol to remain in his old age, how else would he be able to rise to the greatness he knew Tiger was capable of if his body couldn't compete with the stress. The solution had taken him the majority of the past two years to find.

By the stoke of what he could only call divine luck, he had found an old man, nearly crippled with old age, in a senior home. The man had no name; at least he had not been given one since there was no name on record only a series of numbers indicating his existence. The most peculiar thing about him was the strange symbol on his right shoulder. It was a snake eating its own tail with a sword running in an angle through it. It had been the same as the company that had given him directions to Sarah. The only note they had on him was that he was a NEXT with the power of time. Curious, he had taken in the senior, and after several tests, he had accomplished the one thing he had been wanting.

The man's very blood cells could be used to turn back someone to the age of when they were most powerful. There had been several catches: the subject had to be a NEXT, in perfect health, the moment of their most powerful stage in life must've had already passed, the subjects blood type had to be the same, the subject had to be male, and the subject had to be unconscious. The whole criteria had to be met because it would only work once in the subjects life time.

And once would be all that would be needed. He had made sure that Alicia, with her own NEXT powers of slipping someone into a deep dreamless sleep, had taken cared of Kotetsu's conscious state.

He walked to the first room to his right in the hall he found himself at.

The plaque had no name, only a series of numbers.

59412

He opened the door.

The room was starch white. A series of metal shelves were mounted on the walls. Each shelf had several jars, each one holding approximately fifty milliliters of liquid. The whole room glowed with the iridescent lights of different colors. Colors ranged from a neon blue so stricking it burned the eyes to a deep red so dark it resembled the color of spilled blood. Only one jar was set apart from the rest. It was placed on the small coffee table in the center of the room.

The liquid contained in the jar was thick, sluggishly hitting the glass of the container when the man picked it up. The color was a charcoal black; it literally glowed with the light it seemed to suck in. It made the man suck in his breath when his skin touched the glass, it was freezing cold, so cold that some parts of the jar were frosted over in a light sheen of ice.

The man walked out of the room and moved to the hallway where he knew his patient was in.

The black liquid was a gift from Ouroboros. The representative had informed him that the jar held the ultimate form of genetic manipulation discovered as of yet. It held the basic building blocks of NEXT cells all NEXTs had in infancy. The high concentration of cells had been programmed to give a NEXT subject a series of pre-programmed powers. They assured him that it had been tested several times already and that no harm would come to Wild Tiger.

The liquid had to be injected straight into the subject's heart in order for the cells to be remade and the new NEXT genetic encoding to be reset. He had personally extracted a small sample in order to have his team of scientists experiment and duplicate the liquid. Duplication had not been as successful as he had hoped but, the effects of the liquid were exactly as Ouroboros described.

The cells would rapidly duplicate themselves once injected in the heart. It would simultaneously send out a hormone which would allow the body's cells to recognize the foreign substance as a natural part of their environment and not as something that needed to be extracted. In a series of hours, the new NEXT cells would have had injected their own DNA into the body's original cells, only targeting the genes that allowed for the subjects NEXT powers. It would be in that small area of the cells chromosomes that DNA replication would occur. Merely rearranging the entire hosts DNA to include a new NEXT power suitable for the host's physical, mental, and emotional state of health, the cells would then remain a part of the host's body. Millions of cell divisions later, and the subject would be able to use their new power along with their original one.

Dr. Mastermura smirked. It is here where he had done something Ouroboros hadn't requested. He had taken a sample of Kotetsu's blood, as the man had a fondness for beating himself up along with the criminal blood samples were easy to come by as the years progressed. The small samples of blood had undergone various replicating procedures until a good pint sized amount had been achieved. Each cell had been isolated and then experimented on until the portion of the cell's DNA that held the NEXT mutation could be extracted. The extracted section had been isolated and multiplied several times in order for a complete, accurate diagnostic to be achieved.

In their discovery, it showed that the mutation that seemed to be central for all NEXTs were incomplete in Kotetsu's cells. The cells were only partially NEXT instead of fully NEXT. Something had gone wrong in the cells duplication of that fully extended NEXT gene and had paused in its replication. The simplest solution was to create something that would jolt every cell into completing the NEXT sequence so that Kotetsu wouldn't lose his powers.

It had taken his team months of research, but a solution had been achieved.

He looked at the black jar again. Originally, the jar had glowed an angry red color. He had then added a sample of Kotetsu's blood so that the cells could already be a part of the host's body, preventing any unnecessary and unpleasant reactions. A small test had shown that the cells were identical to that of Kotetsu's. A small addition of complete NEXT sequenced cells, cells taken from Kotetsu's blood sample, had changed the entire jar black. A test had shown that all the cells had the NEXT mutation completed, and that a new genetic mutation had taken place. The new mutation had been studied and it showed a new NEXT power and the cells ability to reprogram and jolt all of the existing cells to complete their partial NEXT mutation sequences. It had been more than he could hope for.

He would finally be able to help his idol in this one act.

Clutching the jar, he hurried off to Kotetsu's room, eager to see how his idol would take his first steps as a full NEXT and as a future HERO.

He couldn't wait.


	4. Worried HEROs Where is Kotetsu?

Worried HEROs. Where is Kotetsu?

"..Please leave your message after the beep."

The mentioned beep was heard.

The call was ended, no message had been added.

The cell phone snapped shut in shaking hands. Delicate, long fingers clasped the palm sized piece of machinery tightly.

A figure paced.

Strawberry blonde curly hair so usually styled to perfection now bounced in agitation. Each curl slapped against the pale skin of the figure, some even coming close to slamming against eyes so green they resembled the leaves of the plant he had been forced to acquire by the same individual he had called and who had repeatedly failed to answer. His brow furrowed, perfectly arched eyebrows rising in aggravation. Mouth pursed in anger, masculine lips pressed tightly into a straight line.

The figure paced. One circuit across the room he normally did all his work in. A second, and then a third circuit across the room. He stopped.

His anger had made him exhausted. Especially since he was more worried than angry, and the angry existed only because he was worried in the first place. Pacing had gotten rid of most of the energy being angry gave him, but it also left him with nothing to do, which only made his heart feel that much more alone and empty.

A week! That man had been gone for a week. The last one seeing him had been Bison at a bar, where the man swore Tiger had just one drink, a mild beer at that, and then had gone home. Home was of course emptied out. The door had still been locked.

But that wasn't the most disturbing thing.

The figure glanced at the solitary table he had, it faced the large screen he had used to find everything that concerned Ouroboros, and he looked at the items upon them. A sickening feel enveloped him.

A ring, made out of pure white gold, with the engravings of K + T marked on the inside, lay next to a purple beaded jade bracelet and a waterproof sports watch. All three items, especially the ring, should have been on Kotetsu's body, not here in his lonely apartment and especially not thrown on the pavement he had found them on.

He had been so disturbed at seeing the items Kotetsu always had on the ground that he had automatically called Bison, a testimony to how shocked he was. The large man had arrived, paling at the sight of the items so carelessly lying on the ground.

Bison had rushed passed him in that moment, checking the door. It had been locked. It had been interesting, in a detached way, to see how someone could simultaneously be pleased and scared.

His shoulders had slumped, head resting on the door, and the sight of Bison in such a tired position didn't make the squeezing feeling in his own heart any better. He robotically picked up the items, fingers tracing the smoothness of the ring he had kept an envying eye on in his palm,

Fire Emblem had been called next. The man for all of his flamboyancy was extremely perceptive, and it would be needed in finding the missing Tiger. The man, in his usual pink outfit and make up, had arrived at the scene, and in taking one look at the items on his hands had lost all of his own humor. The smile on the man's face at seeing both Handsome and Bison so early in the morning had ran away, leaving behind an icy expression on the fire manipulator.

Nathan, Fire Emblem's true name, had immediately taken control of the situation. Mobilizing the entire Apollon Media Crew, Saito, and all of the HEROs; a plan had been formed for finding the missing Tiger. And Tiger was missing; the man had never once taken off the ring in all of the years that had passed since the first moment it had placed on him by his late wife. To find the ring not on him, and on the ground no less, was all the evidence that anyone needed.

Saito had even confirmed a possible kidnapping, as a small bit of blood had been found on the ground near the items. Something he had first missed in his shock. The new piece of information has helped neither him nor Bison, who was at this point filled to the brim with rage.

He too was raging, still was days after the discovery. His precious partner, not that he'd admit to anyone except that he had a nagging suspicion that Nathan already knew, was missing and not by his side as he had always promised he'd be.

Blue Rose had taken the whole thing pretty hard, he remembered. After three days of no news, the reality of a missing Kotetsu had dawned on the ice user and she had been an uncontrollable crying mess since then. A part of him understood, and another, deeper, darker part of him only wanted to cringe at her and laugh. He was Tiger's partner, his life had been filled with the older man's presence since he had first started as a HERO, the memories he had with his partner where the only ones he knew without a doubt were real, and so what right did anyone, especially someone like Blue Rose, had in crying over the missing Tiger?

It frustrated him more and more, especially since in her emotional state, Blue Rose had confessed what everyone else had already known and what he had tried to ignore. In Nathans arms, the blond female had cried out her love for the older HERO and promised to confess the moment he returned. He had stepped out of the room at that, feeling Nathan's eyes on his back.

Dragon Kid and Origami Cyclone had taken comfort in each other and in him. Kotetsu, since his return as One Minute Tiger, had become almost like a parent figure to the two youngsters and both were missing him greatly.

Dragon kid, with her low esteem and without her grandparents, had latched onto Kotetsu as the man had taken on the duty of subtly helping her see that she could be a good HERO and didn't need to be in the shadows. For months she had slowly gone up in points, showing the entire City that there was a reason she was named after a fearsome fire breathing creature. His role as a parent had increased as Keade, his own daughter, and Dragon Kid became pen pals.

Origami Cyclone had already been looking up to Kotetsu before the Maverick accident, taking pride in his powers and finally stepping out of the shadows. The older man had helped the kid find his confidence, constantly telling him stories of how he had decided to become a HERO when he had been much younger.

The two youngsters had found common ground within each other when they had found out about Kotetsu's possible kidnapping. Nathan, Bison, and him had decided to keep the news as a possibility even though the three of them knew differently. They had kept the news of the three items away from them as there was no reason to worry the two kids further.

Keade though, in a surprising twist of events, had called him that first afternoon. Her voice had this scared quality, as if though she just found herself all alone in the world. Without prompting, she had confided in him that she had felt something bad had happened to her dad and that she was going to be on the train to Sternbild that evening and to pick her up. She stayed with Bison at his house or inside the condominium her father had handed her the key to whenever she wanted to be surrounded by the presence of her father.

Her attitude at Kotetsu's disappearance had only put everyone more on edge. Her first words to everyone were, "If dad comes back then he won't be the same." The horrific way her words sounded as if though they were facts had just given him nightmares, ones he had every time he closed his eyes.

Everything from body mutilation and terrifying death scenes had passed through his eyes. The most recent ones were probably a product of his own fears, as he dreamed that Kotetsu had returned with no memories of anyone, of him, of their time together. It was those dreams that woke him up with a scream retched out of his own throat and with sweat covering his skin. The first one had sent him in a frenzy of research; he had spent the whole day reanalyzing everything they had gathered, which wasn't much. Unfortunately, whoever had taken him had also made sure to not leave anything that could be traceable. The only things they had was a blood sample too small to do much of anything too and the items Kotetsu should've been wearing.

Apollon Media had not taken well the news of Kotetsu's disappearance. Their huge hovercraft had no recordings of any activity near Kotetsu's neighborhood, which in itself was odd. The huge HERO TV balloon had been right in the area at around the time Bison had said Kotetsu should've been returning home.

It was news to all of the HEROs to know that the seemingly useless balloon did have a purpose besides having an air view of any arrests taking place. As per all of their agreements in being HEROs, the balloons objective was to monitor the area around their homes to make sure that no suspicious activity was occurring at any time of the day or night. It would not do well for the public to gain the identity of a HERO who wished to remain secret or have their homes be a target, as a HERO could easily get distracted from the arrest if their home was being under attack.

The balloon had been hovering over Kotetsu's home, it should've caught something but the fact that it didn't meant that something was up. The added fact that several of the crew members had also gone missing along with a good portion of the balloons videotapes concerning Kotetsu had everyone becoming sick with worry. The fact that the code of security had been breached had Apollon Media ready to declare war on whoever was responsible.

Every missing video of Tiger had only cemented the fact that the target had definitely been the old man and not anyone else or even him, as the videos he played a major portion in were still neatly catalogued. It was disturbing how everything had been orchestrated to capture the Wild Tiger.

What was really heartbreaking though was how each piece of newly revealed information of the missing Tiger records affected his young eleven year old daughter. Every new report had pulled the girl further into a depression, until it had become normal to see the girl holding an orange tiger plushie Kotetsu had apparently planned to send as a gift. It had reminded him of the pink bunny plushie he knew the man had been responsible for buying on the first birthday he had spent as a HERO and as the man's partner. It did not make him miss the man less, as he found himself grasping the plushie as he slept, it kept some of the harsher nightmares at bay and provided a silent comfort for whenever the stress of not finding his partner built inside him.

The phone in his clenched hand suddenly rang and vibrated the sound and feel of the active machine pulling him out of his thoughts.

A finger flipped open the screen and pressed the green button, the hearing piece was pressed tightly against his ear. He did not want to miss a word.

"Hello?"

A sick clenching in his stomach made him feel nauseous; automatically he knew he would not be getting good news.

"Hello, is this Barnaby Brooks Jr?"

He nodded to himself taking a second in affirming his name out loud in a solid yes.

"This is Sternbild City Gold District Emergency Hospital. We're calling because a patient named Kotetsu T. Kaburagi has just been rolled in and we have on file that if there was anyone with that name to call you, Mr. Brooks."

The sickening feel only grew more intense. Gone for a week and he comes back in the emergency room?

"Ah yes. That's correct. Is he alright?"

"We'll need you to come to facility as there was a slight misunderstanding in the gathering of information."

He swore he was going to throw up.

"What do you mean a misunderstanding occurred?"

He could not get his voice to stop shaking.

"Well the Kotetsu you described was in his late 40's and has facial hair correct?"

Confused, he merely replied with a yes.

"Well that's the problem. The Kotetsu we have must be in his mid-twenties and has no previous memories. He only remembers his name and some advanced information."

Nothing came to his mind. Only a distinct sound of crying from somewhere inside of him was resounding in his ears.

"I see. I'll be there in a few moments. Good day." Someone else must've answered; someone other than him even if he knew he was the only person in the apartment, because it couldn't have been him. The only part he was conscious of was the terrified part of him that was too busy crying and screaming in denial.

The call had ended without him even knowing, all of his attention on his sliding body against the wall's sturdiness, on his breaking heart. And he was sure it was breaking. The pain too unbearable to be real, his hand fisting against the cloth of his shirt right above his heart as if that would stop the pain spreading through him.

His head knocked against his bended knees, his arms wrapping around them close to his chest. He made himself as small as possible, comforting himself in a position he had not taken since Kotetsu had fulfilled the role of being his friend.

A shaky breath passed through his lips.

A shiver raked through his body. He was cold all over. Goose bumps rising all over his flesh.

His stomach churned unpleasantly.

"I must be dreaming."

He pinched the skin of his arm with his nails, hoping to not feel the pain, that this was all a dream.

The pain and the mark left behind shocked his already fragile state even more.


	5. A loss still felt, Kotetsu returns

A loss still felt, Kotetsu returns

Barnaby arrived first at the Gold District Emergency Hospital.

The large building glowed in the full moon's light, its towering window panes acting as mere mirrors for the pale ivory globe. Each separate window was a separate room, and in one of those rooms, there lay Kotetsu, a fact that displeased him more and more as the night went on.

He dared not go in.

The building was more like a skyscraper than the more mundane hospitals he had seen in the lower districts. It was competing for space, the structure was a quarter as wide as it was tall, it's base lighted up with a golden light so characteristic of the city's wealthiest district. On the very top of the building, a red heart and the hospital's name, in more classy golden light, shown brightly, illuminating against the roofs of other buildings.

Barnaby felt ridiculously small standing in front of it.

He hadn't even been able to cross the ten steps leading to the opening glass doors. He couldn't even remember the last time he had been to a hospital. Bitterly, he remembered that besides his memories with Kotetsu, he didn't recollect much at all.

The bitter scowl was still on his face when Nathan and Bison, who had brought Keade along, arrived.

A small cough returned him to the present.

Barnaby refocused on the two men.

When he had finally composed himself of his near panic stack, he had decided on calling one of the HEROs to go along with him, a HERO who would've known Kotetsu longer than he had.

He had called Bison first, intending on calling Nathan next but the flamboyant NEXT had already been with the man and with Keade at the moment of his call. He relayed everything the caller had told him. Bison had kept calm during the entire explanation, a detail that had not escaped him. A mere "we'll see" was all that he had gotten before both had agreed to meet up at the hospital.

Bison took the first step towards the building.

Nathan and Keade followed him. The girl kept a tight grip on the tiger plushie she kept at her side.

Barnaby walked right behind them. Every step felt like a mile. His stomach settled like a rock inside of him, making an uneasy feeling grip at his aching heart.

The entry doors, a thick frosted glass with gold handle bars, loomed over him like a black blood thirsty monster ready to devour his soul. An unreasonable fear gripped at him, and for one cowardly moment in time, he made himself believe that if he stood there and never entered, then whatever had occurred to Kotetsu would've all been a lie.

A small soft hand slid into his own, and looking down, Barnaby came face to face with the equally terrified face of Keade. He knew then that she felt the same way as he did. The last time she had been in a hospital was to see her mother die, and now here she was again, about to face the horrific truth of what had happened to her father. He had never been more humbled, here was a ten year old girl ready to face what he could not bring himself to.

"You look like your dad."

He had no reason why the words slipped out, but it was the truth. And it must've been the right words to say because the girl just beamed at him. He smiled back at her.

He took one step and then crossed through the threshold into the hospital.

Inside, the waiting room reminded him of the many lobby areas he had crossed through for a photo shoot or an interview. The semi familiar setting did not make him feel any better. It made him tense up even more.

Bison and Nathan were speaking to a woman behind the desk. After a few minutes of him seeing papers being signed and a whole lot of needless conversation, both men turned to where he still stood next to the doors with Keade.

"They have him in a room upstairs. However, there is a limit to the numbers of visitors he's allowed to have. I've put all of us here on the list, the others will have to wait until he's been released or given authorization to see more than just us. Keade will have to come with one of us I she wants to visit as she is still underage."

Barnaby and Keade nodded, the little girl looking up at him with a questioning look.

"I'll be taking her then."

Keade beamed.

Bison nodded.

Nathan led them through a series of doors until they reached the elevators. Pressing the sole button, they waited until one of the four elevators chimed in response.

The elevator marked as number 2 opened. They gathered in. Nathan pressed the button for the third floor. No one spoke. Out of the ten possible floors, a floor so close the emergency ground floor was only a bad sign.

The elevator chimed again, this time opening up to their destination. They stepped out.

Nathan led them to the path on their right. They passed empty rooms, rooms that smelled like death, rooms that had a single person waiting by the side of their loved one, and rooms filled with nothing but the patient. It made something inside Barnaby clench. Kotetsu, who was such an energetic goof ball, did not belong in such a sad place.

They stopped.

Nathan entered a room. Room 251.

Bison followed him.

Barnaby tried to follow him but the tight grasp of his hand held him still.

Keade looked terrible. Tears were streaming down her face, her plushie was being held by a white first, her grip so hard on the plushie that he was sure she had punctured the furry orange fabric.

He gripped her hand in return, and slowly made the both of them step forward.

Inside the room was silent.

Bison and Nathan resembled ghosts.

Barnaby took a chance and looked. What he saw took his breath away.

Long locks of black hair were spread all over the pillow and on a covered chest down to where the man's lower back would've been had he been standing up. Eyes were closed in sleep, the mouth closed in peaceful slumber. There was no beard, no signs of any facial hair he would teasingly mock as looking like the heads of two cats peaking over the man's chin. The youthful face did not belong to his partner.

But he was beautiful.

And Bison and Nathan were now trembling.

"Kotetsu?" The whisper of a name that belonged to another man, not the man on the bed, left Bison's mouth in shock and in confusion. "No! Not possible."

"Antonio?" Nathans voice trembled slightly; the girly pitch had hardened to his natural masculine timber.

"It is Kotetsu. This man is our Wild Tiger."

The declaration caused a whimper out of Keade.

The small sound though had a strange effect on the man lying on the bed as he soon stirred awake.

Beautiful golden brown eyes drowsily slid open. Long lashes fluttered repeatedly as the man tried to grasp consciousness.

A soft moan of wakefulness passed through a slightly open mouth, pale lips parting in a yawn.

"Daddy?"

The man looked directly at Keade and smiled.

Barnaby felt his heart skip a beat. The man on the bed was absolutely beautiful, like some rare creature that had fallen from the sky.

Keade launched herself at the man. His upper body was slammed back into the bed with her impact. A confused look painted his face and with a sick feeling crushing theirs hearts, they all knew that he had no memories of the girl holding him.

Keade held her father against her. She had been feeling nothing but fear since he disappeared, his unsent gift of a tiger plushie being the only thing she had touched for a solid week now. She had been feeling miserable and depressed until the man she instinctively knew was her father smiled at her. Still bubbling with joy, she held on to him tighter until a question broke her heart.

"Who are you?"

One simple question, and the small girl who was so familiar and yet not scrambled out of the bed and behind one of the three men who stood at the foot of his bed.

A bear of a man was the one who answered him.

"She is Keade, your daughter."

Automatically he scoffed. He had no daughter. In order to have a daughter he had to have a wife and he had no memories of one. In fact, he had trouble recollecting anything at all now.

"I highly doubt that."

He noticed that the blond one, someone who felt awfully familiar to him, shivered in response. The girl, and why did she bring up such feeling s inside him, only gasped in hurt. Automatically he felt himself become overwhelmed with the need to take the youngling into his arms and offer comfort. It was strange, and he didn't understand why, but the feeling was so strong that he was left a slave to its will and brought back the girl into his arms. She willingly fell against his chest and hugged him.

"She is your daughter, believe it or not."

He merely scoffed again and tightened his grip on the girl. For whatever reason, the girl had taken comfort in him and something inside screamed at him to protect her from whatever could do her harm. And so he obliged the feeling, embracing her back as he settled himself in a more comfortable position. The girl merely adjusted herself, taking comfort until she eventually settled and fell asleep.

He looked back up at the three men.

The man who dressed like a woman, he admitted that the cross dresser did a good job of it, was the one who spoke next.

"I am Nathan, this one to my right is Antonio and to my left is Barnaby."

The prior two names meant little to him, although this Antonio looked familiar as well.

"Barnaby, as in the partner of Wild Tiger Barnaby Brooks Jr?"

The three men nodded. All three seemed to be somewhat pleased and at the same time worried at how indifferent he seemed. It made for an interesting look.

"Hmph! Tell me this then, if you are who you say you are then who am I?"

"Simple really, you are Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, also known as Wild Tiger." The one who named himself as Nathan answered.

He nodded at his name.

"Do you remember anything at all?" The one he knew as Barnaby asked.

"I remember waking up in a hospital and then being taken to a facility before being awakened here this morning. I remember them doing some tests on my memory, making me watch videos. I remember them telling me I was a NEXT, and that I had become a HERO, though I must admit that those videos of me as Wild Tiger are not really all that inspiring."

Not inspiring was putting it mildly. It had made him sick watching himself, and he knew it was him, be a Class A fool on TV. Every video that Doctor had made him watch had been burned into his retina, so that when he closed his eyes he could see every embarrassing moment play over and over again.

The blond one had narrowed his eyes on him; it made him feel as if though he was being dissected. He didn't like it.

"Is that all?"

"Pretty much, as I was mostly in and out of consciousness when I wasn't watching those videos I don't remember much at all."

Bison took one slow step forward.

"And do you remember a woman named Tomoe?"

A blank face was all he received.

"Is she important?"

"She was your wife."

Kotetsu's face fell into an unreadable mask. "Nothing, sorry but it doesn't even sound familiar."

"What do you mean by familiar?" Barnaby had taken on the lead of questions as Nathan was now too busy consoling a pale Bison.

"The videos the man of the facility made me watch only brought a feeling of familiarity, as if though I was subconsciously remembering everything. Some of the videos became increasingly boring to watch as I kept gaining certain memories. I didn't say anything to the man though, as he felt unfamiliar, unlike the four of you. Whereas I'm sure I'll eventually remember you, I knew I had never met him."

The room elapsed into silence.

Kotetsu only looked down on the sleeping girl and smoothed his hand over the crown of her head. He gently raked his fingers down her short hair, taking note of the orange plushie she had in her grasp.

Unbidden, a memory of an older version of himself going through a toy store surfaced. He remembered walking down every aisle, trying to find the _perfect _gift for his daughter, a daughter he know recognized as the girl in his arms. The orange tiger plushie had reminded his older version of a pink bunny plushie he had gifted to someone. He remembered leaving that tiger plushie on his bed, debating on wiether or not he should sent it or of just going back to the store and buying something else.

Seeing the girl holding the plushie so tightly made him smile, glad that his gift had been accepted.

He glanced up towards the three men. "Whose been taking care of her?" The girl had better not been left on her own.

The one he knew as Barnaby answered.

"We've all been taking turns. Although she does have your stubbornness and locks herself in your house, keeping all of us out at times."

"I see. Now when will you all get me out of here?"

Bison and Nathan stirred at this.

Bison was the one who answered. "We're pulling some strings now so in a few hours you'll be released. We can't have them do any tests on you."

Nodding, Kotetsu merely leaned back on the bed. Plans kept his attention for hours. He needed to do something about that Doctor and then he needed to find work. Becoming a HERO no longer seemed all that exciting, especially not since he watched those videos of himself crush things into dust and miss the criminals left and right.

He began to grow tired, eyes growing heavy.

Barnaby watched his partner doze off.

It was so weird thinking of this young man as his partner. The partner he knew was an old clumsy man with more heart than good sense. He was a man who fought not for points, but for the people who couldn't protect themselves and wanted to live peaceful lives. His partner was warm and caring, filled with life, a true HERO in every sense of the word.

Sadly, he wondered if his partner would ever return to him. If this man was truly the man he shared precious memories with. He wondered.

Barnaby just stood there. For the first time since the first time he laid eyes on the Wild Tiger, he felt out of place. He had no idea on what to do.

A hand settled over his shoulder.

It belonged to Nathan.

"Kotetsu might not have all of his memories, but that doesn't mean he can't make new ones with you Handsome. He did remember your name, and he said that we were all familiar to him, so he'll remember us in time."

The words did not comfort him at all. They did nothing but put a clenching hold on his heart.

After the incident with Maverick and finding time to himself, Barnaby had based his sole existence on Kotetsu remembering him. As long as his partner still remembered him, then he was alive. It had become almost ridiculous but there was no other proof of his existence besides the memories he held with Kotetsu. The man had wasted minutes of time only to replace them with memories and precious moments that stretched on for an eternity. How could he continue to live on when his partner had no recollection of him? He dreaded going back to their beginning days as partners.

"Lighten up. Kotetsu, no matter what age he's at, is still a pain in the ass. Undoubtedly he'll make you want peace and quiet soon enough." Bison's hand ruffled his hair.

Barnaby just growled at the act. Angrily removing the hand from his now messed up curls, he moved over to the chair next to Kotetsu's bed and sat. He took an empty hand and laid his head down on the mattress next to the man's arm.

Bison and Nathan stepped out. They returned minutes later with three comfortable, as comfortable as any hospital could afford to be, recliners. The room was large enough for them all to lay out comfortably, as their friend had been given a room for just himself. It was brought on by the need for close monitoring and because Barnaby would not have Kotetsu share a room with a potentially contaminated individual.

Barnaby exchanged the chair for the recliner, staying next to Kotetsu's side.

Nathan and Bison were on the farthest wall, making enough space for any nurse who needed to come in and do some last minute checking on their friend.

"How did you know this was Kotetsu?" The question had been on the tip of his tongue all night and Barnaby could not resist spilling it out.

Bison sighed.

"Because he looks exactly the same way I remember from the olden days; before he became a HERO, before he became Wild Tiger. I recognized it immediately, it's hard not to when I've stared at that same face grinning above me from the ground after him winning a fight.'

The last bit had come out as a chuckle.

"So when did he turn into Wild Tiger?"

Bison scratched the back of his head. "Well Tomoe came up with the name as you know. He'd been known back then as simply Tiger by all of our classmates. He had decided on becoming a legit HERO after rescuing Tomoe from a gang that had sprouted up near our territories."

"Territories? Gang? You were both delinquents?" That was news to Barnaby. Who would've thought his partner was a teenage criminal?

Bison nervously scratched his neck. "Well sort of. Kotetsu, back in the golden days of our shared youth, had been known to have quite a reputation already. The Tiger name didn't just pop out of nowhere and for no reason you know! He was amazingly good at fighting, still is really."

That explained nothing really and Barnaby encouraged Bison to continue.

"Well…when Kotetsu moved into Oriental Town, he brought with him a strong reputation. I've never seen Kotetsu loose a fight before. He just has so much strength that even without his NEXT powers activated he can send my ass flying. And when you're that strong and that good at fighting, well you attract the wrong sorts. And Kotetsu had a thing for attracting the worst kind of people. People with money and influence came to Oriental Town and enrolled into our school to just fight him or persuade him into joining their leagues. Eventually most of them got tired of getting beat and would leave, but the others would stay, forming large gangs and causing trouble. Kotetsu would then have to beat them all over again."

Barnaby was getting tired of all the beating around the bush; the man wasn't saying much of anything at all. Merely stalling him with repeating the same thing over and over, so with an annoyed huff, he waited until Bison spoke again.

Silence reigned for about five minutes.

Bison sighed heavily.

"Alright, yes Kotetsu was part of the gang life. Not the serious money and drug dealing gang we normally catch, but a gang filled with a bunch of would be criminals and delinquents, a bunch of idiots really. Each separate gang owned a part of the town, each part was clearly marked with signs only the other gangs could recognize. If you walked into a territory that wasn't yours and you were recognized as an enemy, you were asking for what we called a beating, a ruthless fight every member took part in.

Kotetsu, though, was different from the usual gang leaders. He had the largest territory and he had not one extra member on his side. The rules of his territory were simple, hurt one person and your ass was his. The name Tiger originated from his fighting technique. Like the real tigers, Kotetsu would hide in secret, analyzing each and every one of us. No one knew where he hid himself or where his hideout was located at, but he knew all of ours. If one member from a specific gang did him wrong, he'd hunt them down for days. His patience was legendary back then. No dealings were done, and he never had anyone but himself fight his battles, and believe me, there was hundreds of us who wanted to join him and have him be our leader."

Nathan brought his hand to Bison's shoulder, urging him to continue.

"He had moved into Oriental Town sometime during our high school days. Later on, during our college years, I learned that he had been studying at some remote area with a martial arts champion turned teacher in order to fully control his Hundred Power. When I first saw him, I knew I had to beat him. He was popular with everyone. NEXT powers pushed the rest of us on the outskirts of society, but it seemed as if his own powers just made him even more eye catching. He was everyone's favorite idol. Legend could've walked right in, and if Kotetsu was there, no one would've glanced at him.

"His fighting was amazing; the happiest moments of my life were spent fighting him, and I know it was the same for anyone who fought against him. He had his own code, a set of unbreakable laws he never crossed over. He wasn't ruthless or cruel like so many of us were back then. He was the justice that spoke in the same language we all understood, not the justice thrown into our faces by hypocritical authorities with money controlling their mouths. It was by fighting him that I realized the purpose for my powers. I never left his side after that moment."

Bison hung his head and sighed.

"But I thought Legend was what made him decide to be a HERO?"

Bison snorted, laughing loudly.

"Hah! Is that what he told you? It's true, Legend had inspired him, but that was when he was a mere kid, younger than Keade now. No. Legend only showed him that his powers were not just a force meant for destruction, nothing more. Tomoe was the one who made him into a HERO." It was here that Bison's voice turned melancholy.

"They had been childhood friends you know. She had been at the top of every class they shared; the highest seat of social standards had been occupied by her. He had been the thorn on her side, the one person the voice of her logic couldn't reach. He didn't do anything she wanted him to. If she said go left, he'd go right. I never once understood their relationship back then; she stayed by his side though. Trying to make sure he didn't get into too much trouble or making up excuses for him whenever someone argued against him. And he just continued on fighting and winning, making her angry with his careless need for violence and fighting. He always wanted to know who was the strongest, and she always wanted to know where he was so that she could talk him out of fighting. I eventually learned that she had been in love with him until he left her for advanced training, coming back in the ending of high school. He saved her twice, once from my own gang and then from a gang who enjoyed stealing and selling drugs to the younger kids. Months later, he finally got the picture and they got together. Staying together until she died."

Barnaby's hand tightened into a fist. He didn't want to hear anymore. All of this new information was making him realize just how little he had known his partner, and it made something inside of him cry out in pain. He victoriously pushed back the panic rising in his chest; stomping down the feeling of betrayal and heart break he knew he had no business in feeling but felt anyway. He suddenly felt cold, his skin rising up in goose bumps. He pulled the thin white blanket further up to his chin and cuddled underneath it.

Why was he so cold? Why hadn't Kotetsu told him anything about his past?

Damn it, he thought, we're partners. You were supposed to tell me things like this so that I didn't have to find out about it from someone else. You were supposed to confide in me like you make me confide in you.

He quietly punched the arm rest, the small act of violence centering him.

He closed his eyes, trying to find something to latch on in order to sleep. The release papers would come in a couple of hours, but it was already three in the morning and he knew they'd be delayed until the morning shift.

Bison did not utter another word throughout the night. Nathan had tightened his grip on his shoulder when he sensed how distraught Handsome had become.

Bison had only sighed at his friend's intuitiveness, wishing he had the same keen senses when it came to the younger HEROs. The blonde rookie was especially hard to comprehend; only Kotetsu seemed to be able to understand the blonde's shifting moods and thoughts.

Understanding dawned on him.

He looked at the cross dresser, Nathan merely stared right back at him and nodded.

He looked back at Kotetsu's other side, seeing the mop of blond hair poking out of the blanket. He wondered how the young ice HERO would take to the sudden competition. He looked back at Kotetsu and wondered if there was going to be any competition left for his partner once the others found out. He scoffed, it was still Kotetsu, there'd probably be even more people for the blonde male to fight off.

He tried to stop thinking; it was causing him to have a headache. He laid back on the recliner; he had his own battles to fight as well. Nathan's head rested comfortably on his chest.

Both men went to sleep.


End file.
